Attempted suicide by drug overdose and by poison-ingestion methods seen at the main general hospital in the Fiji islands: a comparative study

Abstract

Objective: This study examined the prevalence and the characteristics of deliberate self-poisoning patients seen at the main general hospital in the Fiji Islands. Method: Thirty-one consecutive patients with deliberate drug-overdose and 27 others with nonoverdosed self-poisoning were compared on sociodemographic and clinical variables. Results: Deliberate self-poisoning cases represented 0.3% of the hospital admissions, and had a rate of 25.9 per 100,000 population. The overdose group was significantly older ( P< .05), whereas the poison-ingestion group had significantly greater proportion of males ( P< .03). The rate of psychiatric morbidity was significantly higher in the overdose group ( P=.04), whereas the history of alcohol abuse was significantly higher in the other group ( P=.04). Paracetamol (35.5%) and paraquat (29.7%) were the most commonly used agents. Conclusions: Age, gender, rate of psychiatric morbidity, or history of alcohol abuse could be predictive of whether drug overdose or poison ingestion would be used for deliberate self-poisoning. This information could be relevant in the formulation of suicide preventive strategies.